The Ukrainian World Congress is deeply concerned with the calls by German authorities and other western countries for Canada to circumvent sanctions established by the EU, Canada and the United States. Germany has been pressuring Canada to release a Siemens turbine intended for Russian state energy agency Gazprom to increase output on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
By delivering this equipment to Gazprom
- Canada will enable Germany to circumvent international sanctions rules by transferring to Germany equipment that is embargoed from being delivered to Gazprom.
- Germany is surrendering to Russia’s energy blackmail at the expense of Ukraine’s energy security and tens of thousands of murdered and injured Ukrainians.
- Germany is rejecting the reasonable alternative of receiving increased gas supply through the Ukrainian pipeline which has the capacity and was previously a source of supply. Russia has built pipelines around Ukraine and this turbine will enable Russia to literally freeze Ukrainians into submission this winter.
“We call upon the Canadian government to maintain its principled position of freezing all equipment that will be used to fund Russia’s war machine,” stated Paul Grod, UWC President. “Canada has always held the moral high ground in putting human life before economic gain, for which the global Ukrainian community is sincerely grateful.”
Call to Action
UWC calls upon Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine in Canada to:
- Write letters to your government and elected officials demanding a stop to handing over the Siemens turbine to Germany
- Appeal to your government and elected officials by tagging them on social media
- Publish op-eds in your local media